The Letter People

Synopsis of Saturday Morning Show

“Come and meet the Letter People,
Come and visit our family,
Words are made of Letter People,
A-B-C-D, follow me…”

Twenty-six puppets formed the cast of the long-running PBS series The Letter People, teaching young viewers the building blocks of literacy through lessons, songs and animation. Designed for budding minds aged 5-7, the show took the letters of the alphabet and gave them personality.

The Letter People puppets each had a distinguishing, alliterative characteristic—Mr. M had a munching mouth, Mr. F had funny feet, Mr. T had tall teeth and so on. Over the course of the show’s 60 fifteen-minute episodes, kids were introduced to each letter’s sound ("Meet Miss U," "Meet Mr. K"), along with consonant blends ("TH – The Thing"), tricky concepts like "Cooperation And Silent E" and even sentences.

The lessons were simple, but effective, giving eager would-be readers a jumpstart on phonics. The Letter People was produced by a PBS affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri, but popular demand from parents and educators quickly spread the program across the country. Since its 1974 debut, The Letter People has given thousands of children an introduction to the English language, and it continues to do so today on several PBS stations nationwide.

Release History

1974 PBS

TV Sub Categories

live-action
animated
local
educational

TV Studio

KECT-TV,  St. Louis

Television Cast

Puppeteer Allan Trautman

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